Too early to predict whether the coronavirus pandemic will have an effect on property prices: Illawarra expert

"While the market is strong at the moment... We don't know what's going to happen down the track," Real Estate Institute Illawarra chairman Trever Molenaar said.

Mr Molenaar, also director of Bulli-based agency Molenaar + McNeice said buyer confidence remained up at the moment.

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While he said it remained "business as usual" for the industry, Mr Molenaar said this weekend would be a good test of whether the pandemic was affecting aspects such as numbers at Illawarra open houses.

"We haven't seen the effects yet of any number drop or anything like that," he said. "That may come in time, but the feeling that we're getting is that we're still getting a lot of people coming through open houses.

"We're just not shaking hands with them - we're taking precautions."

Mr Molenaar said he'd heard reports from Sydney that less prospective buyers were attending open houses, with interested parties doing private inspections instead.

Mr Molenaar said prospective buyers who wished to inspect Illawarra properties didn't need to panic.

"Just be cautious," he said.

"Keep washing your hands as they say, don't go around shaking hands and everything like that.

"If you're worried about that, walk through privately."

Adam McMahon from Bulli-based Dignam Real Estate said we don't yet understand the full implications of this virus on the property market and overall economy.

Mr McMahon said the growing impact of the coronavirus has forced the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut the official interest rate to a low of 0.5 per cent, and there could be more cuts to come.

"This is good news for borrowers as it means they can pay back their loans quicker," he said.

However, he said low wage growth or higher unemployment means there is a risk that property prices could become unaffordable.

"The RBA's rate cuts are being implemented to counteract this," he said.

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